I did the same in July 2012. It took me about 4 months to get back on a bike, fully padded up. Initially it was just riding local bridleways etc, as I was worried about falling off etc. It took me about 1 month of that and some very understanding mates (as I was stopping and scared of anything remotely technical) to ride trail centres. About a month after that I started riding the natural stuff (Peaks) again.

As Ciron says the key thing is to get it moving as early as possible.

I’ve lost about 20 degrees of movement in total, which was due to me making a right mess of the elbow (it smashed into 7 pieces, one of which went missing when I fell off). The Doc who did the second op (I had to have it reworked due to the wires and pins being the wrong size) said the best he was hoping for was a loss of around 40 degrees.

I was spending about 2 hours a day working my elbow for 2 months, to try and get it back. It hurt and felt funny but I think it was worth it. Even now I still do the exercises.

Good luck.

I’ve had mine for 18 months and used it perhaps 2 or 3 times a week through winter.
I’ve used it for commuting and some off road stuff and it’s plenty bright enough.
The only issue I have with it is the rubber USB port cover, which seems to work loose exposing the port underneath.
I only paid £50 for mine (from CRC), but if I was buying again and they were only full price I’d be tempted by a Joystick (Mk8) from Rutland cycles for £90.

I went contracting a couple of years back and used an umbrella company. They provide calculators on what your take home pay might be, based on claiming expenses against your tax. It’s not as lucrative as setting up on your own, but I preferred to pay my tax via PAYE.

Make sure you research them though, as I did sign up to a one that went belly up and took thousands of my pounds with it. The directors managed to setup another very similar company.

I bought the one that househusband and nickjb recommended, last week and it worked a treat.

I recently went from 2×9 to 1×9 with SLX cranks. I’ve got a 32 chainring (which used the existing bolts, as I kept the bash), with a 11-34 cassette. I’m not the fittest, but I don’t miss my granny ring at all.

I do have a Blackspire stinger ISCG which I kept on from my 2×9 setup. However you will need some sort of guide instead of, or as well as your stinger. I initially opted for a Blackspire Blackguard, however it was really too close to my pivot on the swingarm (on an Orange Five), so replaced it with a Hope Chain Guide (seat tube mount) and it works a treat.

I used it at Antur and Snowdon a couple of weeks back and it didn’t drop once.